


Let it Snow

by Chocolatequeen



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Romance, Snowed In, Winter, set after New Earth, so much mutual pining, so very early S2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28020207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocolatequeen/pseuds/Chocolatequeen
Summary: A winter adventure takes a turn when the Doctor and Rose are snowed in together in a remote cabin in the woods.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 14
Kudos: 113





	Let it Snow

Chapter 1: Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

The Doctor cast Rose surreptitious glances as he slowly circled the console, tapping dials as he went. He didn’t see any obvious signs that Lady Cassandra’s possession was still bothering her, but still… He didn’t want to throw them into danger just yet.

Rose hopped up on the jump seat and swung her feet. “Where are we going today?”

“Your choice,” he said. “Where would you like to go? We could go to a concert or watch the moon landing, or there’s a famous market on an asteroid… Anywhere you want, Rose Tyler.”

Rose arched an eyebrow, and he tugged on his ear in response. Of course she knew something was up, but he didn’t have to tell her what it was.

She rolled her eyes, then tilted her head back against the seat back. “Anywhere I want?” she repeated, testing him.

“Absolutely anywhere,” he promised.

“What if I want to tour the most famous pear orchard in the galaxy?”

He flinched, then nodded gamely. “Anywhere,” he promised. _Just please don’t choose that._

Rose giggled, almost as if she’d heard that thought. “Nah, I won’t do that to you,” she promised. She tapped her finger against her chin, and a little wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows.

Finally, when the Doctor thought he was going to burst from impatience, she grinned. “Could we go someplace with snow?” she requested. “Actual, proper snow—not ash.”

The Doctor rocked back on his heels and pressed his tongue against his teeth. “Snow isn’t much of an adventure,” he mused. “Unless…” He bounced on his toes and grinned at Rose. “How about a full-fledged winter holiday, just like you see in the movies?”

Rose’s answering grin sent a spark of electricity through the Doctor. “You mean, a cabin in the woods where we sit in front of a fireplace and watch snowflakes float lazily from the sky? And having snowball fights and building snowmen and going ice skating?”

“Oh yes!” the Doctor crowed.

“Sounds perfect,” Rose agreed.

She hopped up on the jump seat and watched the Doctor dance around the console, spinning dials and sliding levers into place. This Doctor was still so new, but he was also still so familiar.

He tossed her a grin over his shoulder. “Just you wait—this will be the best winter holiday you’ve ever had, Rose Tyler.”

Rose shivered when he said her name. His new voice just… wrapped around the long o in a way that she felt down to her toes.

She fought back the urge to snog him. “Well that won’t be very hard,” she drawled. “Seeing how I’ve never had a winter holiday.”

The Doctor gasped. “Never? Well then, prepare to have all your fantasies fulfilled.”

It just wasn’t fair of him to say things like that, Rose mused. And especially not when he added that saucy grin and a teasing wink.

_He’s an alien, remember,_ she reminded herself. _Maybe he doesn’t even realise what he’s saying._

Still… She remembered a dance in a hospital and a different voice insisting that he was actually a man.

“You should go change,” the Doctor said, breaking into her musings. “And I imagine the TARDIS will have a suitcase waiting for you, too.”

The ship hummed, and Rose patted the nearest strut. _Thanks, old girl,_ she told the ship as she walked back to her room.

Twenty minutes later, they were walking hand in hand through fairy tale streets. “And Librell is one of the best places in the galaxy to experience that Hollywood winter,” the Doctor rambled. “Beautifully stable climate, and a travel industry centred around snow festivals and etc.”

“So where are we going?” Rose asked. She turned a circle, looking at the marketplace in front of her. “I mean, we’re in the middle of a town, and that’s not exactly the image I had in mind.”

The Doctor tutted. “Oh ye of little faith,” he chided. “While you were getting dressed, I reserved the stereotypical snug cottage deep in the woods. But to get us there…” He nodded in the direction of the end of the street.

Rose turned around and gasped. A sled was waiting for them, with a horse hitched and ready to go.

“The full holiday experience,” the Doctor said smugly.

Rose was too amazed to talk as they got into the sled. The Doctor wrapped a blanket around their legs, and then the driver snapped the reins and they took off.

“How far out of town is the cabin?” she asked the Doctor.

“About ten kilometres,” the driver said. Rose looked up at him, a short man wearing a knit cap pulled low over his ears. “It’ll take us a good few hours to get there, so get comfortable.” He passed a jug over his shoulder. “This will keep you warm.”

Rose opened the flagon and inhaled the warm scent of spiced wine. “Oh, lovely,” she sighed. She took a sip and then snuggled down into the blankets to enjoy the ride.

The wind whipped at her face as they drove, and Rose’s cheeks and nose were frosty before the end of the first hour. She drank more of the wine and then tugged her scarf up until only her eyes were uncovered.

After two hours, she started actively looking for their cottage. Finally, she thought she spotted a tendril of smoke lifting up into the sky, and she held her hand up over her eyes to block the glare of the sun.

The road took a wide bend around a hill, and when they came to the other side, Rose saw a small cottage nestled back into the trees. “Is that it?” she asked, standing up halfway to get a better view.

“Yep!” The driver turned off the main road onto the lane. “Our best house. The kitchen is fully stocked, and my partner came out earlier to start a fire.”

Rose spotted the large front windows and hummed. “Perfect for watching the snow fall,” she told the Doctor.

The sled pulled up in front of the door, and she and the Doctor got out. The driver opened the door and handed the key over to the Doctor. “I’ll be back in a week to pick you up. If you run into any emergencies, there’s a phone in the kitchen. My number is taped to the wall next to it.”

The Doctor shouldered his way into the cabin and set their bag down just inside the door. “Thank you!” he told the driver, a wide grin stretched across his face. “I can’t imagine we’ll need to call for anything. We are here for an adventure after all, right Rose?”

Rose laughed. “That’s right,” she agreed. “The full winter experience.”

The driver raised an eyebrow. “All right then,” he said, walking back to the sled. “I’ll see you in a week.”

Rose waved at him, then followed the Doctor into the cabin. He stood in the middle of the small living room and waved at the cosy space. “Well, what do you think?”

Before looking around, she took off her hat, scarf, and gloves and set them on the kitchen table. Then she turned and took in the living room.

The Doctor pointed at the large stone fireplace on the opposite wall. “Imagine the crackling fire, maybe roasting some marshmallows while we watch the snow fall.”

Rose swallowed. That sounded a bit… romantic. Actually. Now that she thought about it, the whole winter holiday idea sounded a bit romantic. And the fact that the only seating in the room was a cosy love seat certainly didn’t make it any _less_ romantic.

_Oh bloody hell Rose Tyler, what have you done?_

The Doctor was watching her hopefully, and she shoved aside her momentary panic. “It’s exactly what I pictured,” she told him. “And look at that television! I bet we can get _By the Light of the Asteroid!_ ”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “You are obsessed with that soap.”

“Well it was you that introduced me to it, so you only have yourself to blame!” she retorted.

The Doctor made a happy sound in the back of his throat, and it took Rose a moment to realise what she’d just said. It had been him—but it had been the old him, the one in leather.

“Well it was,” she grumbled, giving him a smile.

“Yes, yes it was.” He bounced on his toes and then pointed at the closed door. “Let’s see what we have in here.”

Rose reached the door first and pushed it open. The bedroom was just as cosy as the living room—and just as much meant for two people. She stared at the plush queen bed in the middle of the room.

“What is it?” the Doctor said. She felt him lean through the door and look over her shoulder.

Rose could almost hear him blink as he processed what he was looking at.

“Ah. There’s only one bed. And… I doubt there’s a second bedroom.”

She felt his arm shift and knew he was tugging at his ear. It surprised her to realise she knew so many of his tells already. This new Doctor was quickly becoming just… the Doctor, one she knew and… and cared about just as much as she had her old Doctor.

“There’s not a second bedroom because…”

She turned around and looked at the Doctor.

“Because I told the app I was looking for a house for two.”

Rose had to laugh at the sheepish look on his face. “And it didn’t occur to you that if you said you wanted a holiday house for two, the program would assume you meant a couple?” she guessed.

“Well I’ve never been part of a couple,” he retorted.

The way he said it made her breath catch in her throat for a second, but Rose forced herself to relax. He wasn’t saying he was part of a couple now—just that his lack of experience led to this particular thing.

His next words proved it. “Anyway, I don’t really sleep,” he said. “I can just sit in the living room and read all night, while you sleep the day away.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at him. “You won’t be able to say there’s no night on a time machine when we are actually on a planet,” she reminded him.

The Doctor swallowed a sigh. Rose wasn’t arguing with his offer to sleep on the love seat, and he was honestly a little disappointed. Not that… not that he’d done this on purpose, or even was certain he wanted to share a bed with her. Well, he knew he _wanted_ to share a bed with her, he just wasn’t sure it was _wise._

But regardless of desire or wisdom on his part, it would have been nice to see a little bit of interest on her face. He shook his head and quickly carried out the rest of the tour. He was eager to dispel some of the awkwardness, and he knew exactly how to do that.

As soon as they saw the kitchen, dining room, and the loo, he grabbed Rose’s hand and dragged her towards the door. “Come on!” he said.

Rose resisted, just a little. “Let me put my things back on,” she said. She grabbed her hat, gloves, and scarf from the table and quickly pulled them all on. “There, I’m ready. Let’s go have this winter adventure.”

The Doctor beamed at her, then ran out the door. “The first order of business is a snowman contest,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Like, we each build a snowman and the best one wins?” Rose asked.

The Doctor bounced slightly and nodded his head, and Rose started laughing. “And who is going to judge this contest, when we’re the only ones here?”

The Doctor sniffed. “I’ll have you know I can be a very impartial judge when the situation calls for it,” he said.

Rose shook her head, but she bent down and started packing snow together. “Yeah, all right,” she agreed. “It’ll be fun, even if the contest does end in a draw.”

“You know you’re admitting that you would be a biased judge,” the Doctor informed her. He squatted down in the snow facing the opposite direction and started working.

“At least I’m being honest,” she retorted.

He didn’t really have an answer for that, so he focused on his work. This had to be the absolute best snowman ever built, so that even Rose would have to vote for it.

He rolled snow into a single, giant ball. From there, his work little resembled building a snowman. He spent more time carving out snow and packing some onto other spots than he did rolling balls and using sticks to create limbs. Finally, he stepped back and nodded, satisfied with his creation.

“Are you done over here?” Rose asked. “Ooh, you made a snow Boe,” she said, immediately recognising the alien they’d met twice now.

“Yep!”

The Doctor brushed some excess snow off the front of the ‘glass.’ “What did you make?”

Rose bit her lip. “I… well, come see.”

He turned around and walked with her to her snow creation. The gasp, followed by a stunned silence, were all she needed.

“A snow TARDIS?” he said. “We said snowman, though. Or snow person.”

He sounded a little choked up, but when Rose looked at him, his eyes were dry.

She reached out and touched the door. “Well… she is a person, isn’t she? Maybe not quite like you or me, but she’s so real. I love it when she talks to me.”

The Doctor blinked and stared at her. “When she… You can understand her?” he demanded.

Rose nodded. “Yeah… I have ever since…”

She let the sentence dangle, but they both knew how it ended. At least, they both knew part of the story. Rose pursed her lips when she remembered that he still hadn’t told her the full story of what had happened on the Game Station. The last thing she remembered was staring into the TARDIS console and seeing a stream of gold light float around her. Then she woke up on the grating and he was dying.

The Doctor swallowed hard. Rose had not been telepathic before Bad Wolf. He was almost certain of it. Part of him wanted to call up the driver and ask to be taken home immediately so he could run tests on her. If Bad Wolf had changed that part of her, who knew what else had happened.

But this was a holiday, he reminded himself. And really, the TARDIS did talk, so why was it so shocking and distressing that Rose could understand her?

He shook his head. “We’ll come back to that later,” he said, more to himself than to her. “But for now…”

He looked at his giant face made out of snow and then back at Rose’s snow TARDIS. Truthfully, his creation was more intricate. But Rose’s… Rose’s was more meaningful.

“You win.”

oOoOo

The light was already fading when Rose spotted the first snowflake. “Oh, brilliant.” She stuck her tongue out and caught it.

“What’s so brilliant about it?” the Doctor asked. “By which I mean, you’ve been playing in the snow for all day. I’d think the novelty would have worn off by now.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’ve been playing in the snow,” she said, gesturing at the trampled snow. “And there’s not much left to play in, because we’ve either built snowmen or made snowballs or just stomped it down with our boots. This is _fresh snow,_ Doctor.”

He leaned back and looked at the sky. “And lots of it,” he observed. Snow was falling steadily now. “Come on, let’s go inside and watch this through the window. Wasn’t that one of the things you wanted? Sitting next to a fireplace and watching the snow fall?”

“Yeah, all right.”

Ten minutes later, they were sitting cosily on the love seat, cocoa in hand. Not for the first time, Rose cursed the owners of this cabin. Only one bed, only a love seat… Sure it was a tiny cabin, but that didn’t mean that it would always be rented by a couple. Sitting here with her shoulder brushing against the Doctor’s every time either of them moved their arm made it hard to… it just made it hard.

She shifted her cocoa to her left hand so she wouldn’t be tempted to do something stupid, like rest it on his knee. The quiet was giving her brain too much time to think and worry, so she cast about for something to talk about.

She found it, resting on the coffee table in front of them. “You have penguin socks,” she said, staring at the bright blue socks with a dancing penguins pattern.

The Doctor wiggled his toes. “Yep! It’s fun to be thematically appropriate.” He looked at her seriously. “You should always match your socks to your day.”

Rose shook her head. “You’re barmy.”

“I am not!” He pointed at her feet. “Look, you’ve got on thick, fuzzy socks. Perfect for lounging around in a cosy cabin during a snow storm.”

“Yeaaaaah…” Rose drawled. “They’re perfect for the _weather_ , not for the theme of the day.”

The Doctor sniffed. “I’d argue that there’s not much of a difference at the moment.”

Rose tilted her head, silently acknowledging his point. The teasing had relieved some of the tension, and they settled back into quiet, watching the big, fluffy snowflakes fall past the window.

The snow didn’t stop all evening. In fact, it just kept coming harder and harder as they made dinner and settled back in the living room to watch reruns of _By the Light of the Asteroid_.

Rose went to bed earlier than she normally would, a little tired from all the physical exertion earlier in the day. She normally had a hard time falling asleep without the hum of the TARDIS surrounding her, but the stillness of the snowfall seemed to quiet her mind just as well.

A harsh whistling woke her up some time later. She lay in bed for a few minutes, trying to place the sound. Finally, curiosity drove her to get up, leaving behind the soft, cosy covers to investigate.

The air was chillier than it had been, and she pulled on the thick dressing gown she’d brought before leaving her room. The faint glow of firelight told her the Doctor was still awake, though she hadn’t really expected him to sleep on that love seat.

The sound accompanied her into the living room, and she understood it as soon as she joined the Doctor by the window. What had been soft snowfall had turned into a sheet of white swirling around the house.

“Bit of a storm,” he said.

Rose rolled her eyes. “It’s a blizzard, Doctor. A proper blizzard.”

The Doctor tugged on his ear. “Well… I suppose.”

They stared out at the literal white-out conditions for a few more minutes, and then he said, “This changes our perfect winter holiday a bit. We certainly aren’t going out in that.”

Rose snorted. “Definitely not. I don’t fancy getting lost in the snow and dying of hypothermia. That was _not_ part of those holiday movies we talked about.”

To her surprise, the Doctor spun around, a wide smile on his face. “But don’t worry,” he said. “I have a plan for this.”

Despite the smile, Rose saw the uncertainty in his eyes. She slid her arm around his waist and gave him a half-hug. “I know—” A yawn interrupted her sentence. “I know you do,” she said.

The Doctor returned Rose’s half-hug, hoping she felt his gratitude in the gesture. Rose always rolled with the unpredictability of their life, so he’d known she wouldn’t be upset. But the level of trust she gave him would always humble him.

She yawned again, and he chuckled and gently nudged her towards the bedroom. “Go back to bed. I’ll have everything ready in the morning.” He watched her shuffle down the hallway before turning back the window.

A feeling of inevitability swirled around him just as much as the snow swirled around the house. When he’d suggested a winter adventure, he hadn’t anticipated a blizzard. Now instead of enjoying all kinds of outdoor winter fun, he and Rose would be snowed in together.

_It’s like something out of a Hallmark movie._ The Doctor raked his hand through his hair. _The hero and heroine end up at a remote cabin in the woods, and then the snow begins to fall…_

He swallowed hard. He remembered what usually came next in those movies. The forced proximity created intimacy which led to… feelings rising to the surface.

And it wasn’t that he didn’t have… feelings. He had given a regeneration for her, and his feelings for her had shaped the man he became.

But he didn’t know… He glanced down the hallway towards the bedroom. He was pretty sure Rose had had feelings for his past self. He hadn’t yet sussed out how she felt about this him. Did she know this new, new Doctor was still the old Doctor who… had feelings?

She had asked him to change back. Every time he thought about making a move, he remembered the painful blow of that rejection and changed course. He wanted some kind of sign that she wanted this him before he made any overtures.

“Still,” he muttered, keeping his voice low to not wake Rose up, “the universe has dropped us into the middle of a soppy romance. Maybe that’s the sign I need.”

And with the storm howling outside, the Doctor sat down and plotted the perfect snowed-in day.


End file.
